Charity Begins With A Revelation

A Pastor's Approach Wins White House Notice

A Canton minister with an innovative approach to helping the needy, based on the biblical parable of the talents, has won an invitation to the White House.

The Rev. Ann Pearson, pastor of the North Canton Community United Methodist Church, is one of 12 U.S. citizens to be honored Friday by President and Hillary Clinton for philanthrophy.

She ignited a charitable chain reaction with a $1,000 gift from her uncle, John Soltes.

Pearson grew up thinking of her uncle as ``the God person.'' She'd hear him teach a Bible class every Sunday morning on a Fredericksburg, Va., radio station.

He wasn't a preacher, but he belonged to a Baptist men's club that sponsored the show. Her own parents were not churchgoers, so most of what she knew about religion came from Uncle John on the radio.

She was so gripped by the idea of God that she got baptized and joined a church when she went away to college.

``My parents would not support my decision,'' she said, but that didn't matter. Her Uncle John, ``who was always doing something for someone else,'' was her role model.

Uncle John died in 1996 and left her $1,000, which was a surprise because she knew he had little money. She put the gift in the bank while she pondered how to spend it in his honor.

The appropriate idea finally came to her two years ago, when she read the Gospel story of the foolish servant who buried a talent (money) his master had given him instead of putting it to work through trade or investment. (Matthew 25:14-30).

Pearson decided to give Uncle John's money to people to invest in worthy causes.

On Oct. 26, 1997, each man, woman and child in Pearson's congregation was startled to receive $10 from the pastor with instructions to give it away. She also asked them to drop a note into the collection plate about what they did with the money.

The result was a who's who of philanthropy.

Money went to Wide Horizons for Children; the House of Bread in Hartford; Father Flanagan's Boys Home; the Somers Volunteer Fire Department; the Interfaith Nutrition Network; the Pine Ridge, S.D., Indian reservation -- and on and on.

Most of the recipients matched the money when they gave it away and then began giving money to other people to do the same. Besides donating the money, some people volunteered to work in soup kitchens and the other places they supported.

After two years, Uncle John's money continues to multiply as other people beyond the congregation are inspired to do likewise.

Sally O'Connor of East Hartland read about it in the church newsletter and gave each of her two adult children a gift of $100 for Christmas. Each of them matched the gift, donating to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund and to sponsor a person running in a race for leukemia.

O'Connor thought it was such a good idea that she told the story to the people who run the Connecticut Giving Project, part of the Connecticut Council of Philanthropy, which urges people to give more to worthy causes.

The White House agrees.

So, on Friday, Pearson will participate in a White House conference on philanthropy to be opened by the Clintons. She was nominated by the Connecticut Giving Project.

As for Uncle John, she said: ``He liked to do things quietly. He was someone who didn't like to be pointed out or lifted up. I don't know what he is thinking.''